Do You Know Your “Why”?

It sounds like a phrase out of a self-help seminar, “Do you know your Why”? Imagine my surprise at seeing it in a blog on Content Marketing Institute (CMI). In hindsight though, it shouldn’t have been.

It’s always important to understand why you’re creating marketing materials. But it’s also true that it’s easy to get caught up in the what – so many blogs, this many tweets, that many videos. In the process of production, you can forget the purpose behind it.

This particular section of the blog on CMI was entitled “Purpose-driven marketing”. It spoke about how they’ve added many sessions on the topic for the 2016 Content Marketing World. It also announced the keynote speaker for the track: comedian Michael Jr.

It may seem an odd choice – a comedian talking about purpose and marketing. But he has been using comedy to inspire people in their lives and careers for years. Here’s the video CMI posted to help explain their choice.

If you watched the whole thing, you’ll know it’s pretty powerful stuff. The man clearly had more of an emotional response when he was given a reason for singing – even though it was fictional. His performance affected everyone, as can be seen by those around him in the video. They cheer, wave, and even get up and bow down to him.

Imagine what could happen if all of your marketing had that power behind it. What if everyone on the team understood why you were doing what you’re doing?

For example, you’re not just creating a video as a lead generation tool. As Michael Jr. would say, the lead generation tool is the what. The video is the what. The why you need to define before you start. Why do you want those leads? Have you found your purpose?

More from Michael

After seeing his video above, I wanted to know what he talked about at Content Marketing World. It turns out he made some interesting analogies between comedy and marketing. Here is a portion of Skyword’s review of his presentation:

“In a presentation that was equal parts comedic genius, literary brilliance, and deeply moving displays of human empathy, Michael Jr. painted a picture for marketers through the example of one of the fundamental building blocks of comedy: the set-up, and the punchline.”

They then quoted him explaining the connection between marketers and the setup:

“For marketers, ‘Your setup is your talents, your resources, and your opportunities. You use those skills to bring your audience along, before you deliver the punchline'”.

Once you know your “Why”, you can focus on the setup to create effective marketing. Wouldn’t it be great if all your marketing was just as impactful as the man singing the second time?